


You Held My Hand Like I Was Your Best Friend

by ionlyloveyouironically



Series: hey, old lover [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Body Description, Fluff, M/M, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 21:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9203456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ionlyloveyouironically/pseuds/ionlyloveyouironically
Summary: Some days Andrew allows Neil to touch him, to map out the expanse of a body Andrew hated his whole life. Today is one of those days.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Running Back to You by For the Foxes, for obvious reasons.

Neil knows, due to his many years of knowing Andrew Minyard (18 years, in fact), that Andrew has two different types of Those Days. There is the decidedly bad kind, where everything bad that happened to him over his life played on a constant loop close to the surface, not letting him remember anything else. These are the times when Neil cannot touch him and takes the bed in the guest room so Andrew can try to sleep with a locked door between him and the world.

Then there are Those Days that are not so decidedly bad, but Neil has to be careful and look for the glint in Andrew’s eyes that says he’s pushing himself too much. (Because, for some reason, he tries it. Neil doesn’t know where the impulse comes from, thinks it’s one of Andrew’s self-destructive tendencies come back out to play, and that’s when Neil draws back, tells him _I’m not like them_ , tells him _call Bee, this is why she gave you her number_. Neil thinks Andrew just needs the reassurance sometimes that he can still trust Neil.)

It’s one of Those Days when Andrew sits Neil up on their bed, turns his back to him, takes his shirt off, and says, “Touch me.”

Neil is suddenly very alert. Admittedly, he had been dozing off where they had laid on the bed, his head cushioned on Andrew’s belly. Neil loved Andrew’s belly. There was definitely muscle on it, because everyone who played Exy knew that Andrew Minyard takes weight training more seriously than anyone in the league, and being a year retired doesn’t make a difference. But over that muscle is a layer of softness, enough for him to not be overwhelmingly hard.

Neil discovered this on one of Those Days a couple years ago. Andrew did very much what he just did and sat in front of him, facing him, took his shirt off, and ordered, “Touch me.” A conversation did, of course, follow, but Andrew’s eyes didn’t hold the gleam that usually indicated Andrew was intent on causing himself pain, so Neil did as he was told. He mapped from Andrew’s jaw down his neck and collarbones, staying at the top of his chest to soothe his hands across it to his broad shoulders and back, slowly.

Neil had known Andrew had body hair, knew how easily the man grew a beard, but was still surprised when he ran his hand through the thatch of blonde chest hair by just how much there was. And how soft it was. Neil decided he liked it. Andrew stared at Neil impassively, as if this wasn’t a big deal. Neil let him have the façade, thought it probably helped him keep calm.

When Neil’s hands had trailed halfway down Andrew’s sternum, he’d leaned back to allow better access down his torso, looked Neil in the eye, and said, “Don’t tickle me.” Neil hadn’t. He’d kept his touch firm but still light enough to not be heavy, and didn’t go any further than Andrew’s bellybutton.

Andrew’s stomach didn’t have a hyper-defined six pack the way Neil’s did. It had a layer of fat under the skin that allowed some give when Neil’s fingers applied pressure. It seemed like an incongruous thing, Andrew Minyard having a cute soft belly, but it made sense to Neil. After all, he saw Andrew eat the shit he did.

Now, Neil stares at Andrew’s back, fixating on a small constellation of moles right in the middle of his shoulder blades. Andrew’s back is straight like he’s tense, and Neil has a bad feeling.

“Andrew.” He doesn’t turn, so Neil tries again. “Andrew.”

He looks over his shoulder at Neil, and Neil takes quick stock of his face. He seems fine, blank in the relaxed way and not the forcibly blank way he gets when he has emotion that he doesn’t know how to express anymore. Though his eyebrows indicate irritation when Neil continues staring at him.

“Neil,” Andrew grits out. “I would like for you to touch my back. Is that good enough for you?”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Neil replies. “Can I start with your hair, and move down from there?”

“Yes.” Andrew faces forward again, and Neil cards his fingers through the hair at the back of Andrew’s head. He hasn’t cared enough to cut it for a few months and is long enough that Neil’s fingers are obscured as he brushes downwards.

Neil follows the line of Andrew’s neck and runs his hands across his shoulders. He stares, for a moment, at the contrast between his own ruined skin and Andrew’s pale, unmarked skin. He wonders if Andrew can feel the scars on his fingers where they touch.

Andrew’s shoulders are broad and hard with muscle. Neil admires how capable and strong he is as he smooths the backs of his fingers down his shoulder blades. He stops there for a moment, running his thumbs along the edges where his shoulder blades stick out from his back.

A ridge runs down Andrew’s back, indicating where his spine lies under the flesh. Neil is stuck staring at it, wondering why his wrists feel warm. He rubs his knuckles across it, dipping into the space, and Andrew relaxes more after a few passes.

“You have moles,” Neil blurts. “They kind of look like the little dipper. Like a negative space constellation.” Andrew tilts his head, and Neil clarifies. “Not a negative _space constellation_ , a _negative space_ constellation.” Neil traces over the shape they make like a connect-the-dots puzzle.

The thing about Andrew is that even though he puts no effort into self-care apart from the basics, he’s still ridiculously attractive. His teeth are bright, his complexion is great, his hair is shiny, and his skin is _so soft_. Neil knows for a fact that Andrew never uses lotion, yet somehow his skin is softer than anyone’s Neil’s ever met.

Neil’s hands make their way down Andrew’s back, feeling over the slight ridges his ribs create towards the sides, and stroke along his lower back. This is a section Neil’s been allowed to feel before, but he still stares at the dip, running his fingers through the smattering of coarser hair right there, too fine and light to see.

He rubs his hands, palms flat, slowly up and down Andrew’s entire back, feeling him relax further. After a minute, he rests his fingertips on the spot between his shoulder blades he keeps returning to and asks, “Can I kiss you, right here?”

Andrew pauses for a moment before he says, “Yes.”

Neil had never understood how Matt could ramble on about the beauty of a certain spot along Dan’s collarbone, and he’d definitely never understood when Nicky would wax poetic about the back of Erik’s knee, what the fuck, but Matt had always given him a _look_ , and Nicky had said that Neil _didn’t understand, once you fall in love with someone, you love every single part of them and think even the weirdest things are sexy_.

Neil feels ambivalent about most of Andrew’s body parts, and doesn’t really think that any part of him is sexy, necessarily. (Even now, years later, Neil only feels real arousal when Andrew’s hands are on him coaxing him into it.) But, god, for some reason, Neil _really_ likes this little spot between Andrew’s shoulders.

So he presses his lips to it in a sweet little kiss.

He pulls back and Andrew turns around, grips the back of his neck, and kisses him hard. When they break off for air, Andrew asks into the scant inch of space between their mouths, “Did you find another spot you can’t leave alone? My neck takes enough abuse from you.”

“You know,” he responds, kissing down Andrew’s jaw, “you only ever bring up kissing your neck when you want me to.” He plants an obnoxiously loud and wet smooch to the side of Andrew’s throat and laughs when Andrew shoves his face away.

They don’t leave bed for a long while.

**Author's Note:**

> I just enjoy older Andreil being comfortable with each other, y'all.
> 
> I didn't bother to read through before posting so sorry for any mistakes!
> 
> Follow me on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/1980salienboi) and [tumblr](http://1980salienboi.tumblr.com/)


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